“Apple and EMI recently announced that EMI would offer its entire catalogue without DRM (digital rights management) protection at the iTunes store, sometime in May. With just a full day left in the month, Apple made good on the promise, adding unprotected tracks – iTunes Plus – to its online digital media store yesterday,” Christopher Breen reports for PC Advisor.
“To purchase iTunes Plus tracks you must upgrade to iTunes 7.2,” Breen reports. “Once you’ve installed iTunes 7.2, that link takes you to the iTunes Plus page, which holds What’s Hot and Featured Albums boxes similar to those on the iTunes Store’s main page as well as Top Albums and Top Songs columns that list pretty much what their titles suggest.”
“When you click on an album on the iTunes Plus page, you’re asked if you’d like to set your iTunes Plus preference. If you click the iTunes Plus button at the bottom of the dialog box, you’ll always be shown the iTunes Plus version of a music track or music video if one is available. Click Cancel and you’ll continue to be offered protected tracks, although you’ll be told that an album is also available in an iTunes Plus version,” Breen reports. “Regrettably, with iTunes Plus preferences enabled you’re not shown the less-expensive protected version of the track.”
iTunes Plus “files are encoded at a bit rate of 256kbps and are tagged with a .m4a extension. (This is the extension for unprotected iTunes AAC files, versus the .m4p extension appended to the iTunes Store’s protected AAC files.) A four-minute track weighs in at just over 8MB,” Breen reports.
“When signed into the Store, click the iTunes Plus link and you should see an Upgrade My Library area in the upper right corner of the resulting iTunes Plus windows… Albums can be upgraded for 30 percent of the current iTunes album price, upgrades to individual music tracks cost 20p per track. The iTunes store displays the total cost of updating your library,” Breen reports. “Unfortunately, you can’t upgrade individual tracks or albums – this is an all-or-nothing option for your entire compatible library. However, you’re not forced to upgrade an entire iTunes album if you’ve purchased only a few tracks on it.”
MacDailyNews Note: iTunes’ “Upgrade My Library” will be continually updated as iTunes Plus (DRM-free, higher quality) tracks are added. After upgrading your library, iTunes’ “iTunes Plus – Upgrade My Library” section will state that “Your iTunes Plus music is currently up-to-date. There is nothing for you to upgrade. Check back often as iTunes Plus music is continually being added.”
Breen reports, “Apple iTunes Plus tracks are an improvement on their DRM-riddled brethren, but whether iTunes Plus are worth the extra cash will depend on your musical taste and setup.”
Full review here.
If I want a particular track, I’m not going to lose sleep over 30 cents more that I have to pay for the non-DRM version.
I’m near deaf. 128 is prolly good enough for me.
I have never been hindered by FairPlay restrictions and my hearing is not what it used to be, so I’ll be sticking with the old-school format and save the 30 cents per iTune. But the choice is nice to have for those who’ll take advantage of it.
256 is really only useful if you have a really good audio system and play the file through the Toslink port of the Mac.
Then you’ll hear the quality difference between lesser quality formats right off.
But from a iPod, forget it. Just use the 128 bit rate.
Paul’s first solo album, “McCartney”, $9.99 for 13 tracks at 256 kbps, or $1.29 per track.
Following up on TT’s post:
McCartney’s “Venus and Mars” — 17 iTunes Plus tracks for $9.99, only 59¢ per track (vs. $1.29 a la carte). Not too shabby!
I bought that album and “Band on the Run” last night. I’d be curious to hear how McCartney’s back catalog is selling. Downloading was pretty slow last night, as if there was a lot of traffic.
Audiophile –
I can definitely appreciate the added quality of my 320kbps ripped tracks on my iPod through Shure E3c ‘buds. The only way I’d say 128 is “good enough” is if one is listening through cheapo ‘buds or ‘phones. Even Koss’ $40 PortaPro ‘phones are good enough to reveal the difference between 128 and 256.
Audiophile,
sorry mate, that’s rubbish!
I listen to music through my iPod:- Shure E500 earphones (unbelievably good!) with Apple Lossless (much better than yer 128 or 256).
AND THE QUALITY IS FANTASTIC!
I’m nearly 60 years old and have been an audiophile for many years and my stereo system isn’t cheap (around €15,000) and I can say with absolute authority that you don’t know what you’re talking about.
I’m amazed at the number of people who think iPods sound fine with the standard headphones! They’re bloody awful (and they were awful when you spent heaps more for an iPod a few years back.)
I have a philosophy… if you’re gonna go deaf, at least do it listening to music on quality equipment.
when trying to upgrade my library, i was told there was a problem with one of the tracks, and i am not able to upgrade, but to try again.
after 4 attempts, i’m giving up, and will get back to it later.
Yippie! I was excited about upgrading my music last night. How much would it cost me? $40? Maybe $50?
Nope. I had a total of 16 songs. $4.80. I’ve downloaded somewhere between 400-500 songs. Either I haven’t bought much from EMI or they haven’t finished updating their catalog.
Anyway, from here on out, the only music I’ll purchase from iTunes is DRM-free music. Hear that Sony?
Just remember, every file is watermarked with your name as a form of DRM. IF you really like the prospect of being constantly watched by Big Brother, or being sued by the RIAA when someone steals or hacks your library, go ahead, use iTunes Music Store.
Brau,
Good point, but of course no-one should be passing their songs onto to their pals or limewire.
If you iPod or PC is stolen then if you report it to the police and have a record of that, then I do not believe you can be held liable. Proving your PC was hacked would be difficult.
However as in most cases, the prosecution has to prove it’s case. Losing a iPod shuffle will songs on it could be very common and not something likely to be reported. I would imagine the RIAA would have to document electronic transmission of the files to prosecute.
One important thing to note about iTunes Plus : full albums are at the *same* price as before : 9.99$.
Just remember, every file is watermarked with your name as a form of DRM. IF you really like the prospect of being constantly watched by Big Brother, or being sued by the RIAA when someone steals or hacks your library, go ahead, use iTunes Music Store.
Is there any way to strip that?